Culturally Competent and Evidence-based Practices in Mental Health
How did I qualitatively explore a cultural & ritual art practice in South India & creatively disseminate it?
To address the need for cultural competency in mental health, psychology faculty from Christ University, India, and Miami University, USA collaborated on culturally competent, evidence-based (CCEB) mental health care in both countries. I worked as a Research Associate to explore the Indian experiences of mental health treatment, and the practice of a ritual art form called 'Theyyam' in southern India.
Who did I cover and where?
1
project
6
months
6
outputs
From a 6-month funded project, I worked with Dr. Baiju Gopal and had academic and creative outputs that has broadened my sense of how limitless and fun research can be. With 'culture & psychology' as our beacon, we worked on the following:
1. A book chapter exploring culture, populism, and the pandemic. 2. A research paper qualitatively exploring the role of culture in client therapeutic experiences. (with Profs. Vaishali Raval, Padmakumari P, and Elizabeth Thomas) 3. A casebook on the potential scenarios that require cultural considerations in therapeutic settings, aimed at practitioners, that is to be published soon. 4. An exploration of the practice of Theyyam, a ritual practice in Kerala, culminating in the creative production of: a) A photo book (ISBN: 978-81-955810-3-0) of the Theyyam practice (with the help of photos by Sajin Janardhanan and Amaranth Sasidhar). b) A song (Kanalattam - Dance on Fire), Prof Baiju Gopal and Santhosh George Joseph, with the help of several others listed below. c) A short documentary (with no experience in the same previously!). The goal here was to have a better understanding of the psychological healing that devotees report from this practice. The documentary (Theyyil Kurutha Thaivangal: The Gods from the Inferno) was shortlisted for the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival, 2023 and received Honorable Jury Mention. It also won the Best Documentary-Jury at the 12th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival. The same was also showcased at a conference, NIMHANS CPSICON, 2023, at De Montfort University, UK, and several other spaces. We were ecstatic for this achievement as amateurs venturing into this space!
What did I do?
What did I find?
This project has broadened my skill and approach towards qualitative research: I loved how unstructured, unfiltered information from the Theyyam project was disseminated in a format not often used by academics. The documentary gave me the opportunity to write a script by analysing the interviews we had conducted and assist my professor in directing it. We were able to tell the story of the Theyyam practice by applying the lens of psychology: we aimed to understand how healing is perceived to occur in ritual art forms.
To quote an interview I conducted with esteemed psychoanalyst Dr Jhuma Bhasak:
"If the devotees say they are getting healed, then, they are getting healed."
Project Gallery
